Saturday, January 7, 2012

Why did the Magi set off from afar to go to
Bethlehem? The answer has to do with the mystery of the "star" which
they saw "in the East" and which they recognized as the star of the
"King of the Jews", that is to say, the sign of the birth of the
Messiah (cf. Mt 2: 2). So their journey was inspired by a powerful hope,
strengthened and guided by the star, which led them towards the King of the
Jews, towards the kingship of God himself. This is the meaning behind our
journey: to serve the kingship of God in the world.

The Magi set out because of a deep desire which
prompted them to leave everything and begin a journey. It was as though they
had always been waiting for that star. It was as if the journey had always been
a part of their destiny, and was finally about to begin.

Dear friends, this is the mystery of God's call,
the mystery of vocation. It is part of the life of every Christian, but it is
particularly evident in those whom Christ asks to leave everything in order to
follow him more closely…

The better you know Jesus the more his mystery
attracts you. The more you discover him, the more you are moved to seek him.
This is a movement of the Spirit which lasts throughout life, and which makes
the seminary a time of immense promise, a true "springtime".

When the Magi came to Bethlehem, "going into
the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and
worshiped him" (Mt 2: 11). Here at last was the long-awaited
moment: their encounter with Jesus.

"Going into the house": this
house in some sense represents the Church. In order to find the Saviour, one
has to enter the house, which is the Church… the home of Christ, where
"Mary his mother" dwells.

It is Mary who shows him Jesus her Son; she
introduces him and in a sense enables him to see and touch Jesus, and to take
him into his arms. Mary teaches the seminarian to contemplate Jesus with the
eyes of the heart and to make Jesus his very life.

Each moment of… life can be an opportunity for
loving experience of the presence of Our Lady, who introduces everyone to an
encounter with Christ in the silence of meditation, prayer and fraternity. Mary
helps us to meet the Lord above all in the celebration of the Eucharist, when,
in the Word and in the consecrated Bread, he becomes our daily spiritual
nourishment.

"They fell down and worshiped him... and
offered him gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh" (Mt 2: 11-12).
Here is the culmination of the whole journey: encounter becomes
adoration; it blossoms into an act of faith and love which acknowledges in
Jesus, born of Mary, the Son of God made man.

How can we fail to see prefigured in this gesture
of the Magi the faith of Simon Peter and of the other Apostles, the faith of
Paul and of all the saints, particularly of the many saintly seminarians and
priests who have graced the 2,000 years of the Church's history?

The secret of holiness is friendship with Christ
and faithful obedience to his will. St Ambrose said: "Christ is
everything for us"; and St Benedict warned against putting anything before
the love of Christ.

May Christ be everything for you…[B]e the first
to offer him what is most precious to you, as Pope John Paul II suggested in
his Message for
this World Youth Day: the gold of your freedom, the incense of
your ardent prayer, the myrrh of your most profound affection (cf. n. 4).

..The Magi "departed for their own
country" and most certainly bore witness to their encounter with the King
of the Jews.

On their homeward journey, the Magi surely had to
deal with dangers, weariness, disorientation, doubts. The star was no longer
there to guide them! The light was now within them. Their task was to guard and
nourish it in the constant memory of Christ, of his Holy Face, of his ineffable
Love.

…Remember always the words of
Jesus: "Abide in my love" (Jn 15: 9). If you abide close to
Christ, with Christ and in Christ, you will bear much fruit, just as he
promised. You have not chosen him - we have just heard this in the witnesses
given -, he has chosen you (cf. Jn 15: 16).

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ABOUT THIS BLOG

This blog is originally entitled PRAYERBOOK FOR RELIGIOUS (An online version of Fr. Francis Xavier Lasance's PRAYERBOOK FOR RELIGIOUS: A Complete Manual of Prayers and Devotions for the Use of the Members of All Religious Communities, originally published by Benziger Brothers, 1914.)

I have decided to widen the scope of this blog. So, in addition to the prayers from the Prayerbook for Religious, I will now post articles about the spiritual life and other things Catholic.

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SACRED AND EUCHARISTIC HEART OF JESUS

OUR BLESSED MOTHER

My PATRON: Saint Francis of Assisi

"It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching."

MY PATRONESS: Saint Therese of Lisieux

"To Call God my Father and to Know myself His Child, that is Heaven to me ..."

FRANCISCUS PP.

BENEDICTUS PP XVI

V: Let us pray for our Pope Francis. R: May the Lord preserve him, and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies. V: May Thy hand be ever upon the man of Thy right hand. R: And upon the son of man whom Thou hast confirmed unto thee. Let us Pray. O God, Shepherd and Ruler of all Thy faithful people, look mercifully upon Thy servant Benedict, whom Thou hast chosen as shepherd to preside over Thy Church. Grant him, we beseech Thee, that by his word and example, he may edify those over whom he hath charge, so that together with the flock committed to him, may he attain everlasting life. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.